Playing catch up over the summer.

[Iownafourinchporsche]

DS2 is average and achieving expectations in year 1. I feel like I've failed him though because I've been time short and unable to support him as much as I did with DS1 (illness, work etc). DS1 is in year 4 and flying while DS2 is just as able (I'm sure) but not reaching his potential. The school report also suggested helping at home more - just toake me feel even more guilty!

I'm due to take early maternity leave and will have the whole of the summer hols to enjoy with the boys. Alongside the fun, I'd like to try and help DS2 reach his potential. I've no idea what to concentrate on really. Reading yes but what about punctuation etc? Also mathletics - will it really benefit him? What does he need to know numbers wise in year 2?

Talk to his teacher. If the report says you should help at home more, then the teacher will be ready to tell you where your DS needs help. There are loads and loads of things you could do with him, but you want to make sure you use your time as effectively as possible so that you can fit plenty of fun in too.

Punctuation - making sure he uses it when reading. Full stops and capital letters. Give him 2 sentences without any - can he say where to put it in? Then build up to 3 sentences, then longer texts. Get him to read it out loud and listen for when he stops.

Maths - can he count in 2s, 5s and 10s? Show him a 0-100 number line. Can he find, say 33 quickly, or does he scan all the way up from the beginning? Race him - who can find a number quickest? Then is the number nearer to the multiple of 10 before or after ie is 33 closer to 30 or 40 and why? How many do I need to add/take away to get to the multiple of 10 after/before? What is 1 more than my number? 1 less? Can he use a 100 square to quickly add and subtract 10 (by going up or down, not counting out each square)? If he can count in 10s starting on 0, can he do it starting on 12 or 37? Backwards as well as forwards? Going past 100 and then back again?

That lot should keep you going for a while...

Thank you that's great! I particularly like the idea of him putting the punctuation in my sentences. Good point about talking to his teacher too.

Also - do try to make it interesting and NOT like homework. If it's math that he need to do more - try games. Happy Puzzle Company has all kinds of math games.
www.happypuzzle.co.uk/

Or, if you don't mind screen time - sign him up for Mathletics - a bit expensive, but I did it for a short time and DD enjoyed it a lot.

If it's writing - you can try a holliday diary, or writing own comic story - maybe together with older brother?

Unless he wants to do workbooks, I would do lots of games. Look at ICT games website, they use it in y1 and 2 in our school. BBC bite size has KS1 games.

Boardgames, everything with a die is good for numbers, monopoly and scrabble do Junior versions.

The libraries are doing Summer reading challenges, 6 books in 6 weeks to get a medal.

Does he has a special interest? You could make a project instead of a holiday diary, research facts, write them down, make collages and a scrapbook.

He is where he should be, by all means help at home but surely the summer holiday is supposed to be just that, a holiday and a complete break. If we allow our children this break they will be fresh and ready to learn in September, bombard them with more work over the summer and we a likely to turn them away from wanting to learn.

I agree entirely with my2bundles.

I don't get the impression that the op is talking about 'bombarding' her children with work!

Many children are awake for about 12 hours a day. In addition to all the rest, fun etc it does most children no harm at all to do 10 mins of reading, some writing for a purpose ( postcards, diary, comics etc) and a bit of counting/board games etc. 3 x 10 mins per day is all that is needed to try to ensure the child starts the new school year with confidence.

A complete break can mean that it takes until October half term to get back to where they are now.

Try loads of stuff op, look on amazon its a maze of books that are made to be fun..

Mine love the enchanted series and I work on tables too.

Enchanted I did about 10 mins of tables stuff with mine usually every day sometimes not....and we got so much done.

MN is extreme, wanting to support your child with some work is of course translated into bombardment...children sat at desks looking forlornly at other children playing outside.

TBH its such a long day, mine likes to have a little puzzle book to work at....she likes challenges...

Our targets for this summer hols are learning the rest of the tables, 4, 8,9.
learning to ride bike without stabilisers, bringing her on in swimming, table manners....and oodles and oodles of wonderful fun too! Lots of days out, lots of days just lazing round,...and a lovely beach holiday.

Op, amazon, workbooks, 2.81....all levels...games...etc....good luck....I think its vital children keep up at this age...while they are still keen to learn.

www.amazon.co.uk/English-Age-7-8-Letts-Enchanted/dp/1844191729/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404856791&sr=8-1&keywords=enchanted+english

this series, they do maths too, and if you look at all the other books they recomend you can get a few from different sources, they are more like fun, not serious work books....mine just picks her up and casually has a go at what she wants...i dont force her to do any part...or for how long....she picks it up and does it for fun.

Hi Iownafourinchporche:

First off Year 1 (ages 5/6) is frequently still pre-school age in other countries. Your DC is very young and you shouldn't be thinking in terms of 'average' at this point. He's just starting and some people start slower than others for any number of reasons. He may be young for the year. He may have been worried about his sick Mum and not concentrating as much. As you said you haven't been free to do as much with him as you have with your older child - but it sounds to me like you are determined to try now you're a bit better (which is all you can ask of yourself really).

My advice is this: ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY!

or as my brother would have it: IT'S A MARATHON - NOT A SPRINT!

I'd talk to your DC's teachers - but you may already know that sounding out words is tricky for him or that adding beyond 1 or 2 is a problem - so you may instinctively know one or two areas where you can help.

Reading to him. Encouraging him to follow what you're reading and to say words too and doing that regularly (every night if possible) will be a huge help.

Play board games - especially those involving counting. Snakes and ladders is great for this. If he can't add in his head yet - then have him count on - but gradually try over the summer to move to him knowing that 4 + 1 = 5 and not count up. Playing it backwards can help with subtraction. If you want add a second die - so you're working numbers to 12.

Playing the card game '21' or 'black jack' is brilliant for working those number bonds. Ace = 1, 1 - 9 as marked, Jack/Queen/ King all = 10. The object of the game is to get as close to 21 as you can - and better yet get exactly 21. If you go over 21 you're 'bust' and are out of the game.

Deal each player two cards (start with all face up at first until your DC is getting the hang of the game). Add the two cards together. Say you're dealt a Jack and a 2 - so your total is 12. The dealer will ask you if you want to stay or have another card. You take a card and are dealt a Queen. That's 22 - you're >21 so you're 'bust'.

DH and I used to make terribly unwise decisions going for another card when on 19 or 20. Just to make the point that you can work out your chances really. If you have 11 then you know a flip of Ace - King will work no matter what - no risk. If you have 20 - the only card that will work is an Ace. If you see there are two already out on the table - well getting another Ace doesn't look very likely does it....

Use eating things like Candy/ grapes/ raisins/ etc... as opportunities to practice subtraction. Give him 6 candies and ask how many will he have left if he eats two. He may have to count up - but he should get it.

There are some really useful games under addition/ subtraction/ place value on Woodlands Junior School: resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/ - have an explore.

You may also like the games for 5 - 7 year olds on Maths Champs: www.mathschamps.co.uk/#home

Take it slow - don't feel pressure to do anything by a certain point - but from our own experience - doing a bit more week in and week out does cumulatively add up and start to reap rewards.

Hang in there & don't be too hard on yourself. You can't be all things to all people - especially if you haven't been well.

HTH

Thank you so much for all your advice. We will take it easy but have ordered iamaslave's workbook and will try out posters fun suggestions

Great op, Good Luck.

BTW I find a few mins of one on one work a few times a week really does wonders, if you think how much one on one your child actually gets in class....in a class of 30.....

a tiny bit of one on one with parent in the holidays can be enormously helpful.

I disagree I think 30 mins a day is too much in the summer holidays. I would rotate 10 mins a day between literacy, maths and reading. If I told my kids they'd be doing 30 mins a day it would spoil their day. They'd be thinking about it the minute they got up and so spoil the relaxing mornings they love, getting out on the trampoline etc early in the morning. If I left it til later it would be like a black cloud hanging over the whole day. If your dc is happy about it fine, but to say 30 mins everyday is a bit much. Some days they can lay maths games for an hour, some days none at all.

a tiny bit of one on one with parent in the holidays can be enormously helpful
Sure. A tiny bit, and preferably not the way things are done at school and not as a regular daily thing.
Holidays are meant to be for taking a break from regular daily routines. Too much routine dulls the brain.

Mashabell - and doing nothing could put a child backwards after 6 weeks.

DD has concentration issues and actually benefits from 1-to-1 sessions with parents. I also know that at this age, DD is in Y2, lot of information hasn't sunk in properly and playing timestable during a car journey or having a fun workbook while waiting at a restaurant can be easily done and harm no one.

We hardly do anything during half-terms or Christmas but Summer holidays we do.

I do 30 mins work with my kids most days in the holidays if we're not going out for the day. I think it really benefits them. They do it straight after breakfast and don't mind it at all.
They tend to do workbooks. Ds2, who is also in yr 1 does this series, which is a lot more fun than what they do at school

www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=letts+magical+5-6&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aletts+magical+5-6

They also play games on BBC Bitesize and Education City

They'll be doing the reading challenge at the library

Doing a bit of work at home gives my kids confidence at school which means that they usually enjoy learning. That's the main reason I do it, not so that they can be the cleverest in the class or anything.

The rest of the time they'll be doing lots of fun things.

I will be doing about 20 mins - 30 mins a day split between mathsfactor (usually around 20 mins for a lesson) and 10 mins reading. We'll also be doing the library summer reading challenge, some fun science experiments and lots of playing outside, on the beach and in the garden. Hopefully we'll make it to some museums and gallerys too.

I think that the 1-2-1 interaction each day is really beneficial to a child and as a previous poster said they are usually away for 12 hours a day so that still gives them 11.30 hours for fun. They get very little if any 121 time with the teacher at school and just having the chance to be taught like this by a parent who will give them the time to understand and to ask questions etc is priceless.

Personally for me DS has been playing catch up all year and it's only this last half term that we have seen significant improvements in both his work and his confidence. I'm not prepared to loose that over the 6 weeks holiday and hardly think that 20 mins in the morning and 10 mins and night is too much!

Mashabell/ jam:

I think this is a very individual thing - but I have found over the years that parents are more relaxed about not doing anything over the summer when they have less to worry about.

If you are genuinely sitting there with an 7 1/2 year old who can't take 1 from 10 (as I was) - you kind of know in your heart of hearts you need to do more.

I agree treating this extra work as 'formal' school work is the mistake - but it can be easily interspersed throughout a day. Calling kids in after playing outside and whilst they have a cool drink - encouraging them to play a maths game while you make lunch. They're learning but just see it as cooling off/ waiting for lunch.

Getting kids to read signs when you visit historic places/ museums - maybe guidebooks and map read - can all be interspersed into outings and don't seem like 'reading' formally.

Getting kids to enter competitions related to books their reading or tv shows they like - again is an easy thing to do and they don't mind as they like the idea of a prize. Getting children to write in to authors/ magainzes/ tv shows - again just seems like fun. Qutie often they want to - all you need to do is encourage them.

Reading in the evening is a routine for us - maybe that doesn't suit some families. But winding down after a long day with a good book is something we parents enjoy and we are trying to share that with our kids. In the summer we share the reading of series (Harry Potter/ Lemon Snicket/ etc...) - we find books that we enjoy (from our childhood/ recommended by friends) and we read as a family. And because summer is more relaxed - we can start at 8:30 (if it's been a long day) and not worry about getting to bed because it's school tomorrow.

I genuinely think doing more doesn't have to be onerous or school-like. Certainly we did turn to mathsfactor - but DD1 was begging to do more and loved it. She enjoyed it - and more importantly she enjoyed getting better at something she thought she was awful at.

Do not underestimate the positive message of seeing reading/ doing a bit extra as fun and a good thing. And don't underestimate the joy as a parent of seeing that cummulative extra work translate into improved achievements at school.

To help boost reading, spelling and Phonics knowledge, look in the MN Book Reviews,
"children's educational books and courses" at the Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary. It's a book children can use on their own, and it is attractive and entertaining, so it will clarify phonics without the child hardly noticing! The review links to sample pages from the book, so you can see what it is like.

To help Numeracy understanding, I'll add below my standard maths advice, from which you can take whatever seems appropriate:

?QUOTE:

Practical things are best for grasping number concepts - bricks, Lego, beads, counters, money, shapes, weights, measuring, cooking.

Do adding, taking away, multiplication (repeated addition), division (sharing), using REAL OBJECTS as just 'numbers' can be too abstract for some children.

Number Bonds of Ten forms the basis of much maths work, so try to learn them. Using Lego or something similar, use a LOT of bricks (of just TWO colours, if you have enough) lay them out so the pattern can be seen of one colour INCREASING while the other colour DECREASES. Lay them down, or build up like steps.

So:

ten of one colour none of other
nine of one colour one of other
eight of one colour two of other
seven of one colour three of other

etc, etc

then of course, the sides are equal at 5 and 5; after which the colours 'swap over' as to increasing/decreasing.

To learn TABLES, do them in groups that have a relationship, thus:

x2, x4, x8

x3, x6, x12

5 and 10 are easy

7 and 9 are rather harder.

Starting with TWO times TABLE, I always say: "Imagine the class is lining up in pairs; each child will have a partner, if there is an EVEN number in the class. If one child is left without a partner, then the number is ODD, because an odd one is left out."

Use Lego bricks again, lay them out in a column of 2 wide to learn 2x table. Go half way down the column, and move half the bricks up, so that now the column is 4 bricks wide. That gives the start of 4x table.

Then do similar things with 3x and 6x.

With 5x, try and count in 'fives', and notice the relationship with 'ten' - they will alternate, ending in 5 then 10.

It is important to try and UNDERSTAND the relationships between numbers, and not just learn them 'by rote'.

I am sorry it seems complicated trying to explain these concepts, but using Lego or counters should make understanding easier.

An inexpensive solar powered calculator (no battery to run out!) can help learn tables by 'repeated addition'. So: enter 2+2 and press = to give 4. KEEP PRESSING = and it should add on 2 each time, giving 2 times table.

There are good web sites, which can be fun to use :

www.ictgames.com/

www.resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/maths/index.html

UNQUOTE

An interesting activity is Data Collection and producing bar graphs or charts from the data. Choose anything that interests him: vehicles; animals; plants or trees; types of shop in the High Street; or 'interview' friends for favourite food, band, colour, TV show etc.

Count and Tally the numbers, and make graphs or pictorial representations.

Thank you, yet more great stuff!

PastSellByDate: but I have found over the years that parents are more relaxed about not doing anything over the summer when they have less to worry about.

Perhaps. But my son was dyslexic. I felt this was even more reason to give him a proper break from his struggles with reading and writing during the summer. So in the holidays we read loads to him instead. He ended up in Oxbridge just like his sister who took to literacy like a duck to water.

Perhaps it's because i did not start school till 7 myself that i've always found the English pressurised approach to education rather insane. But Lithuanian spelling, just like Finnish, poses no reading problems. Being able to learn to read in just a few weeks makes a huge difference to young children's lives.

Sure. A tiny bit, and preferably not the way things are done at school and not as a regular daily thing

I think it depends on child and parent, if parent usually makes things fun and if child is receptive and looks on the workbooks as fun puzzles.

I would always capitalise on early help...if the child is receptive.

A parent bearing down on an unwilling child, forcing them every day - would be a thick and stupid parent.

Perhaps it's because i did not start school till 7 myself that i've always found the English pressurised approach to education rather insane

I have heard though in countries with more laid back attitudes and children attending school later that actually their pre schools are more school focused and most go to school reading and being able to count.

I wish there had been more pressure at my first school where I was left behind and taught zilch. Years of my life wasted.

I went from being totally lost and doing literally nothing to a new school, weekly spelling tests, words like abhorrent, and FRENCH and actual learning...

Perhaps. But my son was dyslexic. I felt this was even more reason to give him a proper break from his struggles with reading and writing during the summer

your very lucky then, lots of people with un diagnosed dyslexia ended up not forfilling their potential at all and falling by the way side. he must have had really good teachers

But Mashabell - you've done by reading to your dyslexic son - exactly what I was suggesting - hearing the spoken word, reading better quality fiction, letting them follow along as you read are helpful. You were (in my book at least) doing extra work at home.

You just paced it according to your son's needs.

For us it was addition/ subtraction at first - so endless card and board games working that counting skill and then moving to getting DD1 to add up in her head (away from fingers/ toes).

For us practise - incorporating that skill that needed work - made a big difference.

But then we had to devise something as no school books were coming home in KS2 (library was not functioning/ school policy was no guided reading/ class books home because they were going missing too often) and actual maths worksheets were virtually non-existent.

I know it isn't every school - and I know that some schools have very inventive/ challenging homeworks that children enjoy. We just were in a situation where we had clearly low aspirations for pupil progress in school (no pressure to learn times tables for example, a school-wide view that division (including inverse multiplication) was best saved for secondary school) - and nothing coming home to even indicate what was being done at school/ what needed a bit of practise.